Mina's Pages

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

A-Z: Classic Monsters: Classic Monsters that start with Y?

The letter Y for the A-Z Challenge post has me stumped. I finally settled on the Yule Cat.

According to Wikipedia, "The Yule Cat (Icelandic: Jólakötturinn or Jólaköttur) is a monster from Icelandic folklore, a huge and vicious cat said to lurk about the snowy countryside during Christmastime and eat people who have not received any new clothes to wear before Christmas Eve."

The history of the cat dates back to the nineteenth century. Supposedly, it was created to get people to work harder. If you worked hard and did your chores, then you were spared the wrath of the bad kitty. If you were lazy, then you got the cat's paw! Ouch!

The Yule Cat has been referenced as a troll cat and is closely related to the mischievous Yule Lads, which are essentially trolls and remind me of Snow White's dwarfs. Most people familiar with the hellish cat know about the poet, Jóhannes úr Kötlum and his traditional poem The Yule Cat.